Saturday, March 28, 2015 — Monkeys with a View

Introduction

I found the top half of today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvonto be virtually a write-in. The bottom half, on the other hand, required a bit of thought.

The monkeys in today's puzzle provide a view — no matter how you approach them — that is rather disconcerting.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Falcon's Experience ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - solved but without fully parsing the clue █ - yet to be solved

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue
	Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in all-in-one (& lit.) clues, semi-all-in-one (semi-& lit.) clues and cryptic definitions. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

4a   Talk aimlessly /with/ Ron, taking stroll (6,2)

R(AMBLE) ON — RON (†) containing (taking) AMBLE (stroll)

8a   Sit across // street right before puzzle (8)

ST|R|ADDLE — ST (street) + R (right) + (before) ADDLE (puzzle)

9a   Backing in, scold // idiot (6)

NI<|TWIT — reversal (backing) of IN + TWIT (scold)

10a   Average jousting weapon, /in/ a manner of speaking (8)

PAR|LANCE — PAR (average; especially in golf) + LANCE (jousting weapon)

11a   Fat-covered pig // left on a ship (8)

LAR(BOAR)D — BOAR (pig) contained in (covered [by]) FAT (lard)

12a   Class parties // one ruins with changes (8)

REUNIONS* — anagram (with changes) of ONE RUINS

14a   National symbol on // wine container (6)

FLAG|ON — FLAG (national symbol) + ON (†)

16a   Greek deity // ate his bananas (6)

HESTIA* — anagram (bananas) of ATE HIS

In Greek mythology, Hestia^[3,4,11] is the goddess of the hearth, daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Her counterpart in Roman mythology is Vesta.

17a   Country’s // history, unwritten (8)

PAST|ORAL — PAST (history) + ORAL (unwritten)

A bit sneaky, this one, with the 's being part of the definition!

19a   Tennis star agreed with love // message on a wall (8)

GRAF|FIT|O — GRAF (tennis star; German tennis player Steffi Graf) + FIT (agreed with) + O (love)

Steffi Graf^[5] is German tennis player; full name Stefanie Maria Graf. She was ranked top women’s player at the age of 16 and won her seventh Wimbledon singles title in 1996.

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

Graffito is the singular form of the plural noun graffiti^[5].

21a   Tie // game taken in by fuzz (8)

LI(GAME)NT — GAME (†) contained in (taken in by) LINT (fuzz)

23a   Submit // metal-clad vessel (4,2)

T(URN) IN — URN (vessel) contained in (clad [in]) TIN (metal)

24a   Writer MacLeod // preferred guests with distinctive quality (8)

ALIST|AIR — A LIST (preferred guests) + (with) AIR (distinctive quality)

Alistair MacLeod^[7] (1936–2014) was a Canadian novelist, short story writer and academic. His powerful and moving stories vividly evoke the beauty of Cape Breton Island's rugged landscape and the resilient character of many of its inhabitants, the descendants of Scottish immigrants, who are haunted by ancestral memories and who struggle to reconcile the past and the present. MacLeod has been praised for his verbal precision, his lyric intensity and his use of simple, direct language that seems rooted in an oral tradition.

Although he is known as a master of the short story, MacLeod's 1999 novel No Great Mischief was voted Atlantic Canada's greatest book of all time. The novel also won several literary prizes including the 2001 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

25a   Man and wife’s // island group (8)

HE|BRIDE|S — HE (man) + (and) BRIDE (woman) + S ('s)

The Hebrides^[5] is a group of about 500 islands off the northwestern coast of Scotland. The Inner Hebrides include the islands of Skye, Mull, Jura, Islay, Iona, Coll, Eigg, Rhum, Staffa, and Tiree. The Little Minch separates this group from the Outer Hebrides, which include the islands of Lewis and Harris, North and South Uist, Benbecula, Barra, and the isolated St Kilda group.

Down

1d   A flirt // in a moment of relaxation (2,4)

A|T EASE — A (†) + TEASE (flirt)

2d   Stealing wrong // catch phrases (3,5)

{TAG LINES}* — anagram (wrong) of STEALING

3d   Norse god/’s/ patch of moodiness (4)

_ODIN_ — hidden in (patch of) moODINess

In Scandinavian mythology, Odin^[5] (also Woden or Wotan) is the supreme god and creator, god of victory and the dead. Wednesday is named after him.

4d   Staggers around five // parties (6)

RE(V)ELS — REELS (staggers) containing (around) V ([Roman numeral for] five)

5d   Male of our species trains // monkeys (9)

MAN|DRILLS — MAN (male of our species) + DRILLS (trains)

The mandrill^[5] is a large West African baboon with a red and blue face, the male having a blue rump.

6d   Drunk after starting // game of chance (5)

_LOTTO — [B]LOTTO (drunk) with the initial letter removed (after starting [initial letter])

7d   Awfully moronic // character of Greece (7)

OMICRON* — anagram (awfully) of MORONIC

Omicron^[5] is the fifteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Ο, ο).

13d   Having a view // restricted, in back of ring (9)

O|PINIONED — PINIONED (restricted) following (in back of) O ([letter that looks like a] ring)

15d   Greek mantras about gathered // reinforcements (8)

GR|OM(MET)S — GR (Greek) + OMS (mantras) containing (about) MET (gathered)

Om^[5] is a mystic syllable, considered the most sacred mantra in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. It appears at the beginning and end of most Sanskrit recitations, prayers, and texts.

16d   Said, “The woman’s outfit /is/ hairy” (7)

{HIR|SUTE}~ — sounds like (said) {HER (the woman's) + SUIT (outfit)}

17d   Dances // while following the eleventh U.S. president (6)

POLK|AS — AS (while) following (†) POLK (the eleventh U.S. president)

James Knox Polk^[5] (1795–1849) was an American Democratic statesman, 11th President of the US 1845-9. His term of office resulted in major territorial additions to the US: Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845 and conflict with Mexico resulted in the annexation of California and the south-west two years later.

18d   I need a terribly // long poem (6)

AENEID* — anagram (terribly) of I NEED A

The Aeneid^[5] is a Latin epic poem in twelve books by Virgil which relates the travels and experiences of Aeneas after the fall of Troy.

20d   Superior // punisher (5)

FINER — double definition

22d   Smile, /with/ hard work not quite finished (4)

GRIN_ — GRIN[D] (hard work) with the final letter removed (not quite finished)

Epilogue

The title of today's blog is inspired by 5d and 13d.

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[1]   - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
^[2]   - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
^[3]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
^[4]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[5]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7]   - Wikipedia
^[8]   - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
^[9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon